Stay with a fun-loving international family in Heyd, Belgium

Details

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  Description

  Note as of end of February 2025: we will unfortunately not be hosting any Workawayers from March through June while Cole finishes his thesis. After that, we will be very happy to host Workawayers again! :-)
  
  We're an easy going Flemish-American family living in a self-built wooden house on a quarter hectare of land. We have a small family business organizing mainly scything workshops and selling scythes and a few other tools and items through our online shop. Peter works mostly from home for the business and Christina helps him and also works full-time for the Belgian Railroad as a train conductor. We've also been involved in volunteering and social and transition initiatives in our region over the years.
  
  We try to live relatively simply: for example we usually eat mostly local-organic-non-industrial, we don't like plastic so generally avoid it and have mostly wooden and metal utensils and tools, we avoid machines and generally try to use manual tools instead, we recuperate and fix things a lot, we try to limit the use of the car by hitchhiking and not being too persnickety if we're low on this or that, we have an all-purpose Rayburn wood stove for cooking and baking and heating water (which requires a little getting used to) in conjunction with our solar water-heater, we use only a compost toilet, we don't use a fridge (just our cool cellar, but we do have a small freezer-trying to make thoughtful compromises), we do our dishes by hand (a lovely meditative activity for those who can appreciate it ). At the same time, everything is relative: we have a quite comfortable and cozy (albeit it unfinished!) house with a washing machine, a shower and bathtub, as well as internet access, and a car. Oh the contrasts of neo-rurals!
  
  It's rather safe to assume there's some inspiration from all the Flintstones we both watched as children. :D
  
  We unschooled our children, who are now adults. We're rather down-to-Earth, but we do enjoy discussing ethics, philosophy, social issues, psychology, as well as many other subjects. We're also fun-loving and easy going and fair give-and-take works well with us. 🙂
  
  Living here are:
  * Christina, from California
  * Peter, from Antwerp
  * Cole, a thoughtful guy born in 92, who's studying philosophy at the University of Liège while living at home and who likes to question pretty much everything :D
  * Elena, our sweet, gentle and very refined Spanish greyhound who doesn't bark, bite, drool, chew, impose herself or smell bad: practically prefect in every way! :D
  
  And once in awhile:
  * Emile, a quiet, analytical and groovy dude born in 99, who plays his guitar and writes music as much as he finds time to, and also loves photography
  * Michelle, a very creative and talented young lady born in 95, who lives in London, where she studied theatre, with her partner John, and who loves photography, making things with her hands, creating theatre projects...
  
  We have another Workaway project entitled "Help fix up an old house in Hotton in the lovely Province of Luxembourg!", which is a bit on hold for a while since we have too much to do here for the moment. But sometimes there can be some tasks to do there. You can read more nice feedback from Workawayers on that profile too!
  
  Please note that we keep our house very quiet for Cole to concentrate on his studies. If you're very quiet and discrete, depending on what Cole is working on for his studies at that given moment, then it can work. He has classes between 2 and 4 days a week, so we organize the work around that with regard to the noisiness of the jobs to be done.
  
  We have a lovely collection of board games you can borrow for fun and relaxing time in the evenings, or that we can play together depending on our availability.
  
  We also have a piano.
  
  If you're interested, we'd love to hear from you!

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Opportunities to practice French, English or Dutch, and to learn a little about scything, woodworking, gardening, and various other things, like living without lots of gadgets (which can be somewhat exotic if you're used to lots of modern conveniences!).

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  Help

  In exchange for food and stay, we ask for approximately 25 hours a week and we are totally flexible about the distribution of the hours, as long as you are ok with either doing tasks with us if needed, or alone if we're unavailable to do tasks with you. We can always use help keeping up with our business (making boxes for packages, possibly some computer work, and other various little jobs), everyday household chores (cooking,dishes, tidying up, light cleaning, laundry, etc.), as well as general maintenance of the house and the garden depending on the season (tidying up, trimming, organic gardening, etc.). Between the end of October and early March, depending on the weather, it's cold here and most of the tasks is indoors. We always have a running list of jobs that need to be done and Workawayers can choose what they feel most like doing. We feel it's important that people spend their time doing things they enjoy.
  
  There is no minimum stay and we can only guarantee a stay of a few days at a time (starting with a 4-day maximum test period) depending on our current situation and activities, so it's best to have a possible alternate plan afterwards. If however we need lots of help in a given period, the stay could possibly be extended up to several weeks or more. Also, once you're here, if for whatever reason you choose to leave early, that's also fine. We like people to feel at home and relaxed with us.
  
  Please indicate you've read our entire profile in your message.
  
  Although it can be frustrating because we can use the help, we are not offended by last-minute cancellations, as long as you let us know.
  
  Also, we take the time to answer all requests (sometimes with some delay if we're very busy). Please be so kind as to follow up on our answer so we are not left in suspense and can organize ourselves accordingly.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  French: Fluent
  Dutch: Fluent

  This host offers a language exchange
  We speak English, French and Dutch.
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  Accommodation

  Michelle and/or Emile's bedroom or one of our 1 or 2-person tents when the weather allows

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  What else ...

  Aside from some modern houses right around us, we live in a pretty, hilly region with meadows and woods and there are lots of nice hiking trails within walking distance and in the area in general.
  
  The train station is 6 km away, we have a car, and hitchhiking works. It doesn't take very long to get to cities by train (<1 hour to Liège, just over 2 hours to Brussels, a bit more to Antwerp or Ghent). Tip for taking the train cheaply in Belgium if you're under 26: get a Youth ticket, a one-way ticket anywhere in the country! If you're 26 or over, we can advise you depending on your train travel plans within the country.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Can host digital nomads

  This host has indicated that they love having digital nomads stay.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  This host can provide space for campervans.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  Please check with us.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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